Donor links governor to job scheme

In plea deal, ex-agency chief says he bought his job by bribing Rezko and donating to Blagojevich's campaign

April 23, 2008|By Jeff Coen and Bob Secter, TRIBUNE REPORTERS

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has again been stung by accusations that he knowingly exchanged positions in his administration for campaign cash, this time by a former state official who says the governor was in the room when money changed hands.

The new corruption allegations are some of the strongest yet leveled against Blagojevich, but they didn't come at the trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, his former fundraiser and adviser.

Ali Ata, a former high-ranking Blagojevich administration official, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a separate criminal case involving Rezko. Ata admitted he bought his $127,000-a-year state job by bribing Rezko and making campaign contributions to Blagojevich.

Ata, the one-time executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors, a development that could have a significant impact on Rezko's trial and federal investigations of the administration.

Ata said Blagojevich, identified in Ata's plea agreement as Public Official A, was present in a meeting at Rezko's Chicago office, at which Ata brought a $25,000 campaign check and a state position for him was discussed. Rezko put the check on a conference room table in front of Blagojevich, Ata told authorities.

"Public Official A expressed his pleasure and acknowledged that the defendant had been a good supporter and a good friend," Ata's plea agreement said. "Public Official A, in the defendant's presence, asked Rezko if [Rezko] had talked to the defendant about positions in the administration, and Rezko responded that he had."

At a large fundraiser at Navy Pier in summer 2003, the topic came up again, according to the court document. Ata had brought another $25,000, and he and the governor allegedly talked about a state post.

Ata "responded that he was considering taking a [state] position, and [Blagojevich] stated that it had better be a job where the defendant could make some money," the plea agreement said.

Ata's lawyer, Thomas McQueen, said Ata would do whatever the government asked of him, including offering court testimony. He may get that chance sooner rather than later, as a prosecutor at Rezko's corruption trial said Ata could be called as a witness. He would be expected to corroborate what the jury already has heard about Rezko's heavy influence in the Blagojevich administration.

In an e-mail statement, Blagojevich's spokeswoman, Abby Ottenhoff, again denied any wrongdoing on the governor's behalf.

"As we've said many times before, we don't endorse or allow the decisions of state government to be based on campaign contributions," she said.

In a telephone call, she further pointed to previous statements from the governor's office saying that Blagojevich doesn't do business in the ways being alleged in federal court and that, based on the descriptions arising from the case, the governor is not Public Official A.

Teams of federal prosecutors and investigators from the FBI, IRS and U.S. Postal Inspection Service have been looking into criminal wrongdoing in the Blagojevich administration on at least two fronts.

One is an investigation of patronage hiring through the governor's office of intergovernmental affairs. Another is what is known as Operation Board Games. As a result of the latter probe, Rezko is on trial this spring on charges he used his influence with the governor to stock state boards with allies, then extort payoffs from businesses looking for state contracts and regulatory approval.

Rezko also was charged along with Ata in 2006 in connection with what officials said was the fraudulent sale of pizza franchises owned by Rezko. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges that Ata used his state post to help Rezko sell the businesses in exchange for his guilty plea and cooperation. Ata admitted he lied to the FBI about getting a state post in exchange for campaign contributions.

It is obvious from the details and descriptions contained in Ata's plea agreement that "Public Official A" could only be Blagojevich. Campaign contributions detailed by Ata track with donations he made to Blagojevich that are listed in public records. The governor's name has come up frequently during testimony in Rezko's trial, and before that proceeding began, prosecutors had used the pseudonym to refer to the governor in court documents.

Though they involve different allegations of wrongdoing, the government's two criminal cases against Rezko are operating on parallel tracks. Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton, part of the prosecution team on trial, mentioned Ata's plea at a brief hearing after the close of Tuesday's session.

"We have another witness who could testify in furtherance of the conspiracy," said Hamilton, dropping a broad hint that prosecutors may try to put Ata on the stand within the next few weeks. The new court documents also show Ata contends he paid $125,000 in bribes to Rezko in 2003 and 2004 to keep his job.